Renting LEGO sets through Pley.com – review

Recently I was invited by the company called Pley to review their LEGO rental service. I have heard about Pley.com before (formally known as Pleygo), and read reviews on the service with interest. Pley basically works like Netflix, except instead of renting movies for a monthly subscription fee, you rent LEGO sets. So let’s take a look at how this service works. 🙂

➡ THE STORY OF PLEY: The concept of Pley came from founders Ranan Lachman and Elina Furman, parents themselves, who felt that a LEGO rental service would help out parents to engage their kids in creative play, without having to buy more and more new LEGO sets. Thus they took action and started a rental company for LEGO sets. Please note that Pley is not related to or have affiliation with the LEGO company.

➡ HOW DOES PLEY WORK: You sign up at Pley.com, select the monthly subscription plan you want, make a list of the sets your child would like to try out (this is called your Pleylist), then sit back and wait until the first set arrives. You family can build and play with the set as long as you like, and when you are done, you send it back, and get a new one from your list. Shipping both ways is part of your subscription so there is no extra fee. Pley includes in the box a handy prepaid return shipping label, so when you are done playing with the set, all you have to do is hand the package to your mail carrier or drop it off at the post office.

➡ PLEY PLANS & PRICING: In the two years Pley has been around they have been experimenting with various subscription and pricing models, so if you read other reviews on their services you might find different information. At the time of writing this article, Pley offers two subscriptions; the Builder Plan for $20 a month, and the Master Plan for $50 a month. There is also a one month free trial that will roll into the Builder Plan, unless you cancel your subscription. In the Builder Plan you can select from about 150 small to medium size LEGO sets (about 100-300 pieces per set). In the Master plan you can select from over 300 LEGO sets, including some very large LEGO exclusives with several thousand pieces, like the LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series sets and the LEGO Creator Modular Buildings. However I have never read a review of anybody receiving the largest sets, as they are in very high demand. In fact the website itself marks these sets as rare, to make sure subscribers understand that they most likely won’t get these sets any time soon – or ever – even if it is on their Pleylist. What you will most likely get under this subscription plan is some nice 500-1000 piece sets – still great, but not the ultimate best.

➡ PLEY PACKAGING & PRESENTATION: Pley’s packaging is tasteful, cheerful and practical. They repackage LEGO sets into red mesh bags with a zipper opening, which makes the sets easy to store and clean. The mesh bag – along with the instructions, a brick-separator a welcome message – is stored in a bright-blue box. The box is big enough and sturdy enough to store all the pieces for a medium size set, in fact you can comfortably spread out the pieces inside the box to make sure you don’t loose any of them. The system is obviously well thought out and kid-friendly.

➡ PLEY TARGET AUDIENCE: Pley markets itself to families who either have too much LEGO already but the kids still want to try out new LEGO sets, or those who are new to the LEGO hobby and the parents just want to see if their kids would be interested in the hobby. Either way, it’s a concept that definitely resonates with parents, as Pley has been talked about on practically every mommy blog and forum. The most cited reason parents are interested in Pley is the enormous amount of clutter their kids already have (including LEGO sets that are just collecting dust), and giving their children something new to play with on a regular basis without having to spend a fortune. Personally I think this is quite sad. The fact that these kids are already drowning in LEGO but lack the imagination to build their own thing seems to be a sign of failure both on the part of parents to engage their kids in meaningful creative play, and on the part of LEGO to inspire children to build new things with their LEGO sets. But this could be a topic of a whole other discussion. The point is that the idea of renting LEGO sets instead of buying them is definitely something parents are interested in, even if many adult LEGO fans think that the whole concept is strange.

➡ THE PLEY EXPERIENCE: Unfortunately it seems like after the initial enthusiasm, a lot of Pley customers unsubscribe from the service after just a few months. The number one reason is missing pieces from the shipped LEGO sets. When a family rents a LEGO set through Pley, they suppose to keep all the pieces in the box, build the set, play with it some, then take it apart, and put everything back in the box. In reality this means that some pieces are not going to make it back in the box. This is especially true for the larger sets with hundreds or even thousands of pieces. If you have ever sorted LEGO, you know how mind-numbing the experience can be, and how easy is to make a mistake. To expect a child to do this where even adults fail is just a recipe for disaster. And parents may or may not have the time to help.

Which of course means that the next family that receives the set won’t be able to build it because pieces are missing. If they luck out, the missing pieces could be just some accessories that are not essential to the model, but even if just one wheel is missing from a vehicle, well, that’s a problem that can end in huge disappointment for both parent and child. Pley’s response to this is to suggest that you substitute the missing pieces from your own LEGO collection (meaning that you either have to donate them, or keep track of the pieces you added and remove them before you send the set back). Pley also has a reporting system on their website called Pley Detective where you can report which pieces are missing. This means that instead of being able to build and play with the set, you (and/or your child) will have to tediously count and sort all the pieces to see which ones are missing before sending the box back. Basically working free for the company, or more accurately; paying a subscription fee to work for the company. Very few people would find this fun, and it also means that now you are getting less buildable sets per month.

➡ PLEY SHIPPING TIME: Another issue people mention for canceling the service is the shipping turnaround time. When you send a set back, you supposed to get a new one sent to you right away. However most of the time there is a week between sending back the set ad getting the new one. Which means that the most LEGO sets you are likely able to try out is going to be two or maybe three per month. Depending on which LEGO sets you receive and the subscription level, this may or may not make sense financially. In addition, if they don’t have in stock any of the LEGO sets you have on your Pleylist, it can take weeks, even months, before you would receive the next set. And at that point the whole concept of renting LEGO sets no longer seems like such a good idea.

➡ PLEY CLEANLINESS & TIDINESS: If you have been around kids, you know they can have some pretty disgusting habits and they can also be sick often. Pley strongly emphasizes that they clean all returned LEGO sets with commercial grade high temperature washers using Eco-friendly and kid-friendly solutions to clean inside the bricks and its studs. They state on their website that their proven cleaning and sanitation process ensures that 99% of residuals, germs, and bacteria have been killed and removed from the bricks. It is in the company’s best interest to keep the sets super clean, otherwise they could get themselves in some serious trouble really fast, so I trust they are doing their job in this regard. One thing is an issue though is that the family who played with the set previously may not break it down completely. This will make the cleaning less effective, and it also means that you will first have to take apart those sections before you can build the set – again, working for the company for free.

➡ A WORD ABOUT PLEYWORLD: Pley recently expanded into another direction called PleyWord.com. PleyWorld operates pretty much the same way as LEGO Ideas. LEGO fans can submit their own models, and if 5000 people vote for it (instead of the required 10,000 on LEGO Ideas), PLEY will add the model to their rental service, so you can rent out these fan-created models by adding them to your Pleylist.

➡ ADULT LEGO FANS & PLEY: Interestingly, there are also some older LEGO fans who are attracted to the idea of renting LEGO. These people already have a great collection of LEGO sets, but they like the idea of trying out sets they won’t necessarily want to buy for themselves, but still would like to experience building. Lack of space can be a big problem for LEGO fans of all ages, and to have the ability to build models without accumulating an unmanageable amount of LEGO, is attractive to some people. They are not the core audience of Pley, but I have heard from several adult LEGO fans who use the service for themselves, or have thought about trying it.

➡ RENTING OR BUYING THROUGH PLEY: Pley’s primary business model is to rent LEGO sets, however if your family really like a set and don’t want to send it back, you can keep it. Pley charges the standard LEGO price for the set so there is no surcharge, however keep in mind that you won’t be getting the original box, and the pieces are not in new condition. Still, this could be a convenient way of getting a set that you really want to keep, especially if it is already retired.

➡ PLEY FINAL THOUGHTS: When Pley first announced itself, the majority of the AFOL community couldn’t relate to it at all. People said it was an unmanageable business plan and a bad idea all around. After all who would want to rent LEGO sets when you can just buy them and keep them? On the other hand the response from parents of LEGO-crazed kids was overwhelmingly positive. So there is obviously a need that Pley recognized and is attempting to fill. In the two years Pley has been operating, they have served 100,000 families and shared 12,000 LEGO sets. If managed carefully that’s a clientele they can build a business on and also have room to expand. Pley operates an attractive and easy to navigate website, and for the most part they have worked out the packaging, the cleaning, and the shipping.

However while all of these aspects of Pley are working fine, there is a very serious weak link that – unless dealt with swiftly – can and will undermine the entire operation of this business. And that weak link is missing pieces. Experiencing one or two non-essential missing pieces every once in a while may be acceptable. However to have important and/or large number of pieces missing regularly is simply unacceptable. Unfortunately, based on reviews I have read, this seems to be the norm. If it happens two or three times in a row there is no question that the family will unsubscribe. And why shouldn’t they? Why put kids through such a disappointing experience from a premium service? People could just spend the same amount of money every month to buy a set directly from LEGO – and we know LEGO prides itself on accuracy. You will rarely, if ever, experience having a missing piece in a new LEGO set. (I would add here that in the set I got for review all pieces were present, except for a helmet which a previous user must have mixed up – see below.)

The biggest issue is that Pley relies on it’s customers to keep count of hundreds of tiny pieces. This is just not going to happen. The set I got for writing this review is a 560-piece Star Wars set. I solemnly vow that I will keep the pieces in the box and try not to loose them while building the set. I also promise that I will take apart the set once I’m finished playing with it, and put the pieces back in the mesh-bag. Will I count all 560 pieces individually to make sure they are there? Absolutely not. It’s not like I intentionally want to loose pieces, or want to steal them. I just don’t have the time or patience to meticulously go through every single piece. And I’m saying this as an adult who is reasonably careful with LEGO. Imagine a couple of six-year-olds playing with the set. No matter how careful they are, kids are kids; they will drop some pieces while building, knock the box over a few times… these things are expected. It is one thing to put a rented video back in the box, and it is an entirely different thing to do the same with hundreds of tiny pieces.

So while there is obviously enough demand for a LEGO rental service, it may in fact not be possible to build a business around the concept in a practical and sustainable way. Unless Pley hires an army of minions who would check and double check that each set leaving the warehouse is complete, there is going to be a growing number of dissatisfied customers. The same group of raving moms who loved the idea of renting LEGO, signed up for the service right away, and recommended it to all their friends, will voice their displeasure and disappointment with the same passion through mommy blogs and social media sites, and they can definitely kill a company like this. In fact it is already happening. Just check any review on Pley, and even if the review itself is glowingly positive, scroll down to the comment section to see what paying subscribers are experiencing.

So would I recommend renting LEGO sets through Pley? I definitely believe that the concept can work. Whether the idea makes sense to me or not, myself and most other AFOLs are not the target audience for this service. There are both kids and adults who like the idea of renting LEGO instead of buying, for whatever reason, so there is no point of arguing over the existence of such a business. However unless Pley takes the issue of missing pieces a lot more seriously and take control of it internally, I don’t see how they could succeed on the long term. They can’t just rely on a bunch of kids and their busy parents to take care of such a crucial aspect of the operation.

My recommendation would be to wait until more positive user reviews come around and/or Pley makes a definite announcement that they have changed their policies in regards to missing pieces. Pley is still a young company and they keep tweaking and making changes to their service, so I wouldn’t give up on them just yet. If you feel adventurous, you can try them out yourself through the one month free subscription, and see if you get a better experience. The worse that can happen is that you don’t like it and have to unsubscribe. Also, if you are a current or previous Pley subscriber, feel free to share your own review in the comment section below. I’m sure other readers who are curious about the service would appreciate it. 😉

I’m not sure on how large the selection is, but that sounds like a valid option.

If you manage to build a big enough reader base, you can contact the Lego Experience Group (or whatever it was called, EEG, I think) and apply for free review sets. That’d require a big enough reader base and fair reviews (although not necessarily positive) for them to consider you, however.

And yeah, the problem with missing pieces is a nuisance. It’s hard to see a feasible way to avoid it. I guess the main idea of renting toys isn’t necessarily that bad. (I used to rent video games and consoles in the 90’s.) But for Lego, it seems like an inherently flawed business model.

Yes, that’s my thinking too. It is one thing to rent a game that you just put back in the box, or having to count hundreds of tiny pieces and ship them back. People are just not going to do it. Which means the next person will be disappointed. Pley has to keep this aspect of their business fully under control, otherwise they won’t be around for long.

Interesting review. I’d never bother with this, although it’d be cheaper than trying to buy every set I want. But my problem is once I have the set, I want to keep the set! I just don’t like paying for it. 😉 I think an army of minions is the only way Pley.com will keep track of missing parts. The donating idea is okay, but the count-and-report method is definitely unattractive. I might suggest Pley to buy replacement parts from LEGO for all their missing ones (also rather tedious). One thing I noticed you didn’t mention was stickers, but I guess they do come with the set, as your X-wing’s are applied in the picture. But that means that the first person with the set gets to apply the stickers, but everyone after that does not (which could be good or bad depending on their opinion of stickers). That’s my take on this.
Also, according to this: http://brickset.com/article/15341/review-70739-airjitzu-kai The shurikins are new pieces, with detailed hand-grips! I guess the Dimensions Zane pack also has these. 😀 Now for a new Scythe mold… the 3 piece one is rather boring. 😐

I was thinking of you when I saw those shurikens! You were indeed right about the hand-grips! Looks really nice. As far as Pley goes, I was considering mentioning the stickers, but then the review was getting too long already, so I decided to skip it. The stickers on the X-wing I got are applied crooked on every piece, so yeah, that’s another downside. 🙁

Yes the shurikins look cool. But what isn’t a new piece is the hilt to the Wrayth’s sword I mentioned the other day. First of all, the Wrayth is Possessed Lloyd, and his hilt is 3 pieces: a 1×1 round tile, lightsaber hilt, and a 2×2 parabola. So I was wrong about that. 🙁 You can see for yourself, Brickset now has official images to all the Ninjago sets. 😀
Ah, it’s too bad about your stickers. No doubt a six-year-old applied them, but, yeah, it’s to be expected. 😕
Also, just saw this: http://brickset.com/article/15344/star-wars-the-force-awakens-first-image-of-set-75104 Well, there’s one set I have no interest in, as of yet. 😐

I subscribed to Pley for 3 months. I received 3 different sets. All three were missing about 5 pieces a set. It drove me crazy that I couldn’t complete them. I contacted customer service and they offered to make sure that the next set was complete. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. It’s a great idea but in execution it leaves much to be desired.

Matt, thanks for mentioning that. I’m not a subscriber to Pley, but I know the anxiety of missing pieces even when I put together new LEGO sets. The difference is that with sealed LEGO sets having a missing piece is virtually unheard of, so the piece is most likely just hiding inside another element, or fell off the table or something. However with Pley the missing piece experience is very real. 🙁

Also if you would like a Lego Brick (with other cool items that sometimes aren’t Lego) monthly subscribtion box, click the link:http://www.brickloot.com
There are many other subscribtion boxes to that don’t have Lego’s, like Loot Crate, Birch Box, Nerd Block, Comic Con Box, Marvel Collector Corps, and many, many more (I’m starting to get off topic!) 🙂

And there is also grazebox. I got a grazebox sample and loved it. Won’t be subscribing, because I don’t the money for it, but subscriptions like these – if they are set up right – can be a fun experience.

The subscribtion boxes I have listed are not rentable and you buy them, but the one in the article you rent. So, you have not misunderstood. But the anticipation will kill you with any subscription box you choose.

Also I agree with you, BrickLoot doesn’t contain much Lego items, they’ll include there and there, but it is still fun to get plastic bricks each month for cheap!

Also, I should’ve said this before, but you always get double worth of stuff you pay for. For example, Loot Crate (my personal favorite), is 20 dollars to buy, but you get 40 dollars or more worth of items. But usually you get more than a 40 dollar value. I’m getting off topic of your question but eh– it’s fine. But for everyone else that may be pondering and wondering to get Brick Loot or anything else, then they should have read this.

It is regular ABS. The functions are exactly the same as on the newer version of the LEGO brick-separator. Also, I just noticed after putting it next to my LEGO brick-separator, that the handle part is about a quarter inch longer. But other than that it looks and works the same.

I have been an adult member of pley for three months. The pricing model has been 9.99 for rookie membership (small models) at least for that period of time. They also recently announced a better system for checking missing pieces back at their offices.

Thanks for sharing that. It is very helpful to hear from people who are already have experience with the service. I was told my a Pley representative that they are working on fixing the missing pieces issue and she will get back to me when they completed the process. So hopefully they will have a more reliable service soon.

Wendy, I have heard other people mentioning similar issues. You can dispute the charges with your credit card. That will put pressure on Pley to cancel your subscription. Sad if someone has to resort to this…

It literally took me 2 months to receive this toy which was a present for my sons birthday. After his asking me daily when he would receive it, I sent several emails and was completely shot down by the customer service acting manager Timothy and “Customer Service” rep. Amanda. They said they had problems documenting when they receive the toys back. This delayed my shipment. Problem was, I had already spoke with “customer service” 2 weeks prior about the same issue and the same toy. When I told Timothy this, he said he had no way of referencing previous correspondence with my account REALLY!? YOU GUYS CANG TRACK EMAILS?!$… Overall an awful experience which could have been remedied by the basic customer service we have come to expect in America. Definitely do not get the year contract. With one toy every month that = 6 toys a year with Zero customer service.

Daniel, thanks for sharing. This is exactly the kind of real-life customer experience that helps our readers the most to make an informed decision. I hope Pley can sort out their issues and offer better service in the future. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Lynne, I don’t work for, and have no affiliation with Pley. I’m just a blogger and have shared my own experience with them in the article above. And people here are also sharing their own feedback. But we are all just customers. I did let the rep I was in touch with know about the comments here. If they want to make it right for their customers it is up to them. If you have some other proposal of what customers could do, feel free to share.

We were members there for 3 months, we never once got a set that was in our list. They always sent random city or creator sets. We didn’t even have any creator sets on our list. It was a rip off if you ask me.

Not worth the money!! Way too long of a turnaround time! They wait almost a week after they receive your old Lego’s before they send you out a new one, which only allows 2 shipments a month! No deal there!

UPDATE: A representative from Pley contacted me as they wanted to advertise on our site. I told him that I don’t feel comfortable with it due to persistent negative reviews from users of their services.

He wrote me back the following: “Thank you for the honest feedback. I have been hired specifically to stop the back and forth, put customers first and ensure everything. Here’s an update of what we have done in past 6 months: Ensure that 99.95% of our sets are sent with no missing pieces. We invested tons of money and effort in building technology that makes this happen. We even have 2 patents pending. Introduced new plan, named Explorer $9.99/month, allows members to rent just one set at a time. Introduced NPS to correctly understand customer grievances and address them. I am also personally talking to customers over phone, via email, via SMS and understanding the problems, and ensuring they are fixed. The management has taken notice of these issues and I am now directly responsible for the success of Pley. Please feel free to give my contact information jim (at) pley.com to any/all of your members who have questions/grievances about Pley. I will talk to each one of them and ensure the correct thing is done!”

So those if you who have been having trouble with Pley’s service, you might want to email Jim and see if they can be resolved. Hope this helps some. 🙂

Pley is awful. My son was so excited when we started our subscription, he put 50 sets in his pleylist and we never got a single one. They always sent small random sets which were okay but definitely not worth the money we were paying. Shipping times were very slow and their customer service was worthless.

I couldn’t be more frustrated with Pley. I DO NOT recommend it. Here is why:
1) watch out for their scheming bait & switch plans. Every now and then they introduce a 9.99 plan only to cancel it as soon. The catch? You cannot cancel the plans. When they say you can, all they mean is you can pause. But for remainder of the term you pay the higher rate. Terms are really meant for them.
2) Delivery sucks the further away from CA you are and if you are not in the main metro. I was only getting once a month if that. So no, it is not exactly Netflix.
3) Customer support is slow. You call & more often reach vm. Then the email haggle goes on and on.
4) The toys they have for 19.99 odd plan is really cheaper to buy than enjoy for 3-4 days. It would have made sense if I got delivered more than once a month. Agreed, the idea is to have less toys – that is what made me try it. But the idea definitely wasn’t to have more headache in terms of customer service, getting incomplete sets, being on the email to pick toys (it randomly picks more often for whatever glitch), & delivery delays. Its better to play with a friend and share the legos each has than to deal with this nightmare of an execution. They do not deliver their service but your money is all game for them.

I thought of trying just 6 months first. Glad I did & I repent even that. Barely a month goes by without having to reach customer support. And news for you, they do not have physical address to complain with BBB. They are not in online reviews as much. Ya, I wish I read few blogs before trying out. But hey, who has ever encountered such poor customer service & company to deal with in the first place. Never. EVER

Well, I actually have a positive review. I have had a pley.com subscription for more than a year for my 5-yr-old son. There were some problems with ,missing parts at one point, but this hasn’t happened in recent months. I’ve had to contact customer accounts a few times by email and always got a prompt response. I found it annoying to get a response suggesting I augment the kit with Legos from my own collection, but like I said, this hasn’t happened in recent months. We’ve always gotten kits from our pley list. My son has a short attention span and doesn’t usually play with kits for very long, so the service is a good fit for us. My son gets so excited to get the package in the mail.
And no, I do not work for pley.com or have any such connection … I have just been happy with this company and wanted to add a different perspective.

Do NOT use Pley.com. My daughter used her own birthday money for a 6 month subscription and they never sent what was promised multiple times. Once the wrong set, once on instructions… I tried to resolve it and the customer service is awful. They took a 7 year old’s money!!! Tell everyone you know. I have never asked this before, but share this with the FB World please.

If you plan on using this Pley service, BE AWARE of the “auto renewal” policy that is NOT clearly stated when signing up. My son was given a pre-purchased gift card and when I went to sign up for his first toy was asked for my credit card for “lost or damaged” toys. It was never clearly stated that an auto renewal process was in affect. Once his initial 6 month gift card was complete, we never received a single email notification saying we’d be charged for another 6 months AND they have a “no refund” policy (of course). Big thumbs down for their business practices!

I started this service about 3 months ago and foolishly went for the discounted 1Yr membership. The first couple of toys arrived, each with missing pieces but nothing critical. Still a bit frustrating but that I could have overlooked. About 30 days ago I shipped back the latest set of Lego’s we received and it went missing somewhere at the post office. I went back multiple times after getting the tracking number from Pley and USPS tells me that number is not valid. The resolution from Pley? I can purchase a $50 Lego set that I don’t actually have in my hands to continue their shoddy subscription. This is beyond infuriating and quite risky if you go for the REALLY expensive sets which was one of the reasons I joined Pley to begin with (didn’t want to shell out 100+ dollars for sets that eventually end up in a bin at home. I cannot recommend this service at all. Good idea with lousy execution.

I never really write reviews, but this one I just couldn’t let go. Don’t want families to waste their money. I recently subscribed to Pley and initially loved the concept and thought this would be the best thing for our family. However, I have had extraordinary difficulty in getting good customer service regarding charges that were made to my account and not being explained well on the website. The website itself is not that user friendly and on top of that the 2nd toy we received was DIRTY, with actual crusted material on it that I had to hand wash. Pley said they would credit my account, but that has yet to happen. Sorely disappointed and since I have received such run around from customer service am most definitely canceling my account and would NOT recommend this to friends.

Stay away. It’s the only thing I can say about Pley. I started noticing that when it was time to get a new set there were few, if any, sets from our list. I emailed them about this and they said it would improve when their new warehouse was up and running. Nope. The list just included more toys, like American Girl dresses, and infant toys that we have no interest in renting. As someone said previously, this was a great idea, with terrible implementation.

Warning, stay away from this company!!! I signed up on 12.17.16 and still have not received our first toy. I started emailing on 12.24 when I noticed I didn’t even have a tracking number yet and they said the warehouse was closed until 12.26… still no toy arrived. I emailed again and they said the warehouse doesn’t open back up until 1.6.17! Today I received the email letting me know I have a tracking number. It went out today. They won’t refund my money, they won’t close my account until this toy, that I don’t even want anymore, arrives and I mail it back to them. So even when I was trying to cancel and just get a refund they wouldn’t ‘t stop my order. They said there are absolutely no refunds. We have contested it with our credit card. We could not be more frustrated and disappointed!

Thank you for having a place to leave reviews of this company. I’ve searched and searched and there is nowhere else you can leave reviews that people can see. They’ve turned that feature off on the Facebook page. I’ve left a comment on the front page of their Facebook page and they haven’t even responded to that! Thanks again!

Geri, you are very welcome. Customers must have a place to write their experiences. We are not affiliated with Pley in any way, so there is no reason for us to protect them and not to show comments. Hopefully everyone’s reviews here will help others.

Pley.com is not what is used to be! This site is now a scam. I have more than 100 lego sets in my PleyList – when I get to choose a toy – I have 50+ options – but less than 5 are legos and ZERO are from my PleyList. I have complained very month for 6 months – nothing has been done. I’m not allowed to get out of this ….Haven’t actually requested a toy in 3 months because there is NOTHING i would rent that is available. Used dolls for 2 year olds, action figures, etc. This site is HORRIBLE- avoid it!

I ordered Pley.com for my grandson’s birthday (he turned 6). We signed up for $15 per month. The second month we were billed an extra $18. There is no person to talk to at Pley.com so we tried to cancel our subscription. They sent us a link that stated “no English”. Even though we were not ordering toys they kept charging my credit card. Finally they emailed us a reply stating that they would cancel but advised they did not receive back the last toy which we had returned over a month prior. We tried the tracking number on the package and were told by the tracking co that the company who initiated the tracking needed to initiate the search for the lost item. When we emailed Pley.com their reply was that they do not no this. Luckily I was able to call my credit card and set up a block on this company’s billing.

Pley is set up like a scam. It’s misleading that you buy “1 toy credit each month” for $12.99 but if you return your toy in less than the month you don’t get your credit back. You have to pay another $12.99 for another credit. So there’s no point saying “month.” It’s just a credit. So I’m paying ~$19 for every toy we rent on there when I can by the same exact toy (Zombie Strike Crossfire Bow Blaster, for instance) for $19.99 and then give it to charity when I’m done. HOLY MACKEREL!

Add me to the list of people to signed up for PLEY and have found it to be, basically, a 2 out of 5 star service. The website is terrible (I mean, terrible). Pieces are missing — WAY TOO MANY pieces. Customer service is a bit amateurish.

Pley is very poor in almost all aspects: Overall selection is poor and selection at time you pick your next set is terrible – what was offered was filled with toys for toddlers (my son is 7) that were not on the Pleylist. Too many sets came with too many missing pieces, rendering some unusable, but no credit given. Customer Service overall is very poor – most of the time they do not even respond. Shipping times also much too long, we were only getting 2 sets per month because of the 7-10 day shipping wait times. Great idea, what a shame their execution is so poor.

They could not ship a toy to us for over 1 month after requested. When I asked for a refund, they refused because it was not their policy, but I guess it’s ok to keep my money and not ship toys. There is no way to contact them directly, I emailed back and forth several times just to be told no, and basically it was my fault I lost my money because I told them to cancel the account. They offered me several credits, but what is the point if they don’t ship out the toys? Kids are very disappointed and I’m pissed. Here’s the whole email exchange:

This message was sent to n*****a@yahoo.com in reference to Case #: 45266.

ok, it has been another 10 days since your last email, and it is still showing as processing. At this time I need a manager to contact me about getting all my funds returned and cancelling my account. I do not see any reason for you to keep my money if I cannot get a toy shipped out to me in over 1 month. I want a refund of $43.98 processed IMMEDIATELY. I do NOT want any more credit, extensions, etc.
I expect a reply no later than Monday afternoon with confirmation of my refund being processed. I can also be contacted at 518-***-****.

NOV 15, 2017 | 11:15AM PST

Robert replied:

Hello Nella,
Your last payment was 8/24/17 for 12.99 and this payment is nonrefundable. If you have a second account, please let me know that email address. I have cancelled the account nellamadera@yahoo.com and you will receive an email dated proof.

Robert
Customer Service Ninja

NOV 15, 2017 | 01:44PM PST

Nella replied:

No, I have 4 credits left on my account. If you are not capable of sending out toys in a timely manner, then I want a full refund of ALL my credits that you will not let me use. You WILL NOT cancel my account without refunding me or allowing the credits to be used! Is that how you do business and treat your customers?
You either refund me all 4 credits, or I will make sure to post this whole email discussion online and secure an attorney to get it back for me. The fact that I have to email you back and forth, and NOT be able to speak to a person on the phone speaks volumes about your shady business practices.
Your next email had better include confirmation of a full refund of 4 credits or a phone number
Nella

Hello Nella,
When you created the account, you agreed to the tos, I will place them below:https://www.pley.com/terms-and-conditions
In this, we state more than once that you will not be refunded for any reason. We did offer to add credit to the account however you did decline this. You can dispute the charges with your bank.

Robert

Customer Service Ninja

NOV 16, 2017 | 06:48PM PST

Nella replied:

WOW. Yes, I did agree to the terms, but that was with the understanding that you were a reliable company that would abide by YOUR terms and send the product out not just keep my money. Be assured I will follow up with my bank, AND blast this whole email string online so everyone can see what a huge jerk you are. So professional.

Wow! That’s not the way to treat customers! Thanks for sharing your experience! It’s sad to hear that after all this time they still couldn’t (or didn’t want to) improve their business practices. Make sure you dispute the charges with your bank/credit card.